Food Dyes

I started searching what I could on food dyes today.
Let's start with a little history:
http://www.answers.com/topic/food-coloring. This website contains some really interesting information on origins of dyes, historical uses, and even a list of what a few naturally occurring dyes are made from. It really is worth the read.

What I'm really interested in right now is what are dyes made from? So that will be my main focus (although, after all of the research I have done it is really hard to ignore all of the potential side effects).
A lot of people stay away from dyes because of allergic reactions. There seem to be many concerned parents on the net who have eliminated these dyes from their child's diet and had great success with eliminating symptoms. If you would like more info on allergic reactions here is a website with some good info: http://www.allergicchild.com/food_dye_allergies.htm

www.wisegeek.com started me on my "what is it made from" search. From them I learned a little about FD & C Yellow No. 5 and Red No. 3.

• "FD & C Yellow No. 5: contains tartrazine. People who have aspirin sensitivity may not tolerate it and it may be especially a bad choice for people who have frequent asthma. Tartrazine is derived from coal tar [can you believe this?! How gross is that?], which has led to concerns for all people who consume it."

• "FD & C Red No. 3: contains erythrosine, another coal tar based compound. There is suspicion that this colorant may be carcinogenic. Rat studies showed development of thyroid tumors when high doses of erythrosine were administered."

(On an interesting side note white vinegar is also made from coal tar (Apple Cider Vinegar, Paul C. Bragg). Makes you want to avoid that too, huh?).

• "In general, other FD & C colors have been thought to possibly have adverse effects on some people. Though these are unsubstantiated, claims that artificial food colors can cause depression, anxiety, and attention deficit disorder (ADD) persist. There has been much anecdotal evidence that reducing artificial food coloring in children’s diets may reduce or eliminate ADD. As noted above, to address this issue, certain European countries have made the use of FD & C colors illegal." (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-food-coloring-made-of.htm)

From http://www.allergicchild.com/food_dye_allergies.htm are a few interesting tid bits:

• "Cochineal dye [a red dye] and its close relative, carmine, are now being reconsidered as safe food dyes. These food dyes have received much press given that they are derived from crushed beetle carcasses. They have been around for hundreds of years, yet are causing anaphylaxis in some people."

• "Annatto is a food coloring derived from the seed of the Bixa Orella tree. The coloring is a yellow/orange and it is used extensively in crackers, cookies and bakery goods."

Wikipedia, for all it's worth, has some very valuable information. There have been many dyes banned in the U.S. recently, (though not as many as other countries) however these 7 dyes are still FDA approved and the most commonly used in our foods. I have read through each of their links and written by each dye, in parenthesis, what it is either made from or what known effects it has to our/other mammals health.

"In the USA, the following seven artificial colorings are permitted in food (the most common in bold) as of 2007^[update]:

• FD&C Blue No. 1 – Brilliant Blue FCF, E133 (blue shade)

("It is a synthetic dye produced using aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum. It can be combined with tartrazine (E102) to produce various shades of green. The dye is poorly absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract and 95% of the ingested dye can be found in the feces. It also reacts with certain bile pigments to form green feces.")

• FD&C Blue No. 2 – Indigotine, E132 (indigo shade)
  

(Nothing on what it is made from, but: "Indigo carmine is harmful to the respiratory tract if swallowed. It is also an irritant to the skin and eyes. Proper laboratory cautions (lab coat, gloves, goggles) are advised.")

• FD&C Green No. 3 – Fast Green FCF, E143 (turquoise shade)

("...is a sea green triarylmethane (Triphenylmethane can be synthesized by Friedel-Crafts reaction from benzene and chloroformaluminium chloride catalyst) food dye. This substance has been found to have tumorigenic effects in experimental animals, as well as mutagenic effects in both experimental animals and humans. It furthermore risks irritation of eyes, skin, digestive tract, and respiratory tract in its undiluted form.")

• FD&C Red No. 40 – Allura Red AC, E129 (red shade)
  

("Allura Red AC is one of many High Production Volume Chemicals. Red AC was originally manufactured from coal tar but is now mostly made from petroleum.")

• FD&C Red No. 3 – Erythrosine, E127 (pink shade, commonly used in glacé cherries)

("Allura Red AC is banned in many European countries because it is an azo dye,("The name azo comes from azote, the French name for nitrogen that is derived from the Greek a (not) + zoe (to live"). ... in 1990 the U.S. FDA had instituted a partial ban on erythrosine, citing research that high doses have been found to cause cancer in rats.")

• FD&C Yellow No. 5 – Tartrazine, E102 (yellow shade)

(Nothing on Wikipedia but from www.wisegeek.com: "contains tartrazine. People who have aspirin sensitivity may not tolerate it and it may be especially a bad choice for people who have frequent asthma. Tartrazine is derived from coal tar, which has led to concerns for all people who consume it.")

• FD&C Yellow No. 6 – Sunset Yellow FCF, E110 (orange shade)
  

(Again, not sure on what it's made from, but: "Sunset Yellow is a sulfonated version of Sudan I, a possible carcinogen, which is frequently present in it as an impurity.")

One last article and website that will tell you what dyes are commonly found in what foods as well as what effects these dyes may have on a person: http://www.purezing.com/living/food_articles/living_articles_fooddyes.htm

Well, that's about all the research I can handle for now. Then again I don't think I really need any more to keep me away from these dyes (do you?)!

References and interesting reads:

• http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-food-coloring-made-of.htm
• http://www.allergicchild.com/food_dye_allergies.htm
• http://www.answers.com/topic/food-coloring
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_coloring#Artificial_coloring_in_United_States
• Multiple other wikipedia links found on this post
• http://www.purezing.com/living/food_articles/living_articles_fooddyes.htm

Good health to you!

Baby Crawls

Okay, a progress update.

No candy is going great! It's still hard to me to resist but there have been a lot of baked goods around the house lately (thanks to two birthdays) and that's keeping me satiated.

No dyes is also good. I'm concerned that manufactures are starting to call these 'colors' on labels. That's something I'll have to look into. But so far no reds, blues or yellows.

No high fructose corn sugar is easy as pie. There are plenty of things out there for me to eat besides. Though I must tell a quick story. My dad, bless his heart, was out looking for ice cream a few weeks ago. He came home pleased with himself telling all of us "I even read the labels and found one without high fructose corn syrup!" Thinking nothing of it we all ate it (this was before the new year, mind you). The other day as I was looking for something to fill my ice cream craving I ran across the ice cream he had bought. Reading the labels I found in the ingredient list "corn sugar". I must let you all know that this is EXACTLY the same things as high fructose corn syrup. Those tricky labeling batards! I'll have to find a way to bring this up in conversation around him sometime. I did avoid that particular ice cream :D

Here's where the real problem comes in. Refined flour. YIKES!! Do you know how incredibly tricky this is to avoid? I've definitely slipped on this one so far. You try going to an Italian restaurant and avoiding this! So, I'm letting these little missteps by for now (it's birthday celebrations!) and I'll just keep SLOWLY working on trying to eat other things and avoid it when possible.

I feel pretty good about my progress so far. I really think there are so many tricky labeling issues out there it looks like I'll need to do quite a bit of research. I guess that will give me something to do while I'm jobless.

For now, good health to you!

Baby Steps

So I've realized our last goals were a bit lofty. Trying to do too much at once always is. I don't know that Theron will be joining me much in the blog quest anymore but I would like a way to keep track of my progress.

So, to start (again):
I have few goals I am currently working on.

1. Eat no candy.
This came up because the holidays always bring around loads of sweets. Theron and I usually don't buy candy but living with parents one doesn't always get a choice of what's bought and not. That being said there has been loads of candy laying around the house that I have been gorging myself on. I can now say I have gone three full days without candy. I am currently allowing myself up to 1 ounce of dark, organic chocolate (Whole Foods has the best!) and baked sweets are still okay. It will be my eventual goal (hopefully by the end of the year) to cut out white sugar completely. I feel this is a good starting point.

2. Avoid high fructose corn sugar.
This one I generally try to do anyway however I am now making a concentrated effort to avoid it completely. This stuff is just crap! Why is the FDA allowing garbage and poisons like this into just about every product you can find in the grocery stores? I know why, it's because they spend money stupidly and allow for the subsidization of corn which means we overproduce something that they have to find a use for. They then end up feeding it to our livestock (which they aren't meant to eat), which gets passed on to us. They also find clever ways to put it into everything they possibly can which allows them to falsely bring down the price of food (because it's been subsidized by our taxed) which makes American's think they are getting their food cheaper but they are paying more just for a crappy product. Enough of that rant for now but anyone reading this blog should really watch "Corn King" and "Food Inc." (for starters).

3. Cut back on and eventually eliminate white flour.
I would really like to eliminate any flour that is not from the whole grain. I think that may take a bit of reading up on to see what I need to be looking for in food labels. Here is some food for thought: refined flour is so lacking in nutrition that even weevils (the little bugs you may find in your flour if you let it sit around too long) are not stupid enough to eat it. Think about it: have you ever found a weevil in your white flour? No--because there is not enough nutrition in there for them. What about your whole grain flour? Yes--there is actually something in there for a bug less than a cm long to munch on.

4. Avoid all dyes.
I'm talking about food here. I think it's disgusting to put dye into food. I mean, wouldn't you love to know what Red 40, Blue 25, and Yellow 30 are? More importantly why are they in our foods? It is not nutritionally necessary for them to be there so why are we eating them hand over fist?

I have many more I'd like to start but 4 seems plenty for now. I would love to give my baby a good start (I haven't done as well as I'd like during pregnancy) and teach her the importance of whole foods. Nature has done a perfect job of creating sustenance for all living things. I am constantly amazed that humans think we know so much more and know it so much better than mother nature. Seriously she's been creating our foods and environment for billions of years and we've been creating our crap for (well at least the crappiest of it) 200 years. Think about it.

Health to you!

Quick Update

Finally- a semi-day off work!

I've been working every day since arriving home from vacation so needless to say I've really been too busy to think about posting (also Theron is hijacking the computer to watch the World Cup). And since I've been so busy with work I've really slacked on eating raw. I do try to remember that good/big changes happen slow and we're still doing good on recycling, spending, drinking our water, and other smaller changes. I've been trying to eat fruit for breakfast and make sure I get a good couple serving of veggies every day. It must be helping some because both Theron and I have already lost 8 lbs! What a difference it will make when we start exercising. Why is it so easy to be lazy?! I might try to add exercise next instead of switching to 100% raw. I'll continue fruit for breakfast and try having a salad for lunch, and maybe some nuts and berries for snacks. I really need to get off my lazy behind!

P.S.-- Sorry for looking so grumpy in my pictures; I'm generally a photogenic person (so my family will love this picture for my sour expression).

Our First Pictures

Here are our first pictures taken June 7th. We hope to see a wonderful transformation a year from now.

A Good Question

In case anyone besides Holly reads this blog yet, Holly posted a good comment under 'P.S.':

"Tell me about how you do your recycling, please! I really want us to start, but I have no idea how to go about it. Do you have local recycling pickup? I saw your recycling bin so I know how you sort. BUT. Give me more details on how it's working for you."

So for us it's pretty easy because we have recycling bins outside our apartment. The pictures on the lid of our recycling can are the items we can and cannot recycle in the blue bins outside. We went to a convention at the library and they gave us a pamphlet and we used it thus :) We can't recycle glass in our bins but we are saving our glass and looking into where to recycle glass.

I would recommend Googling your city + recycling. There you can find all the info you need on how to get your own blue recycling bin, or at least know where to take it. This is what Salt Lake City's page claims (http://www.slcgov.com/slcgreen/recycle/curbside.htm):

"Salt Lake City contracts with Allied Waste to collect recyclables from an estimated 45,000 residential homes, and 1,100 small businesses and multi-family complexes every day, five days per week. An average of 900 tons of material are recycled each month."

We'll have to take our glass somewhere to recycle, but it's worth the effort because it feels really good to do just a little bit better and make this world a bit better for the next generation!

P.S.

Our recycling has been going very well. We have recycled about 3/4s of our trash. It's amazing how wasteful we are. This is one of our goals this year is to reduce our consumption and trash.